Overview
- Trump filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday, July 28, asking justices to set aside the $83.3 million defamation judgment that a 2024 jury awarded E. Jean Carroll.
- His lawyers say the 2019 White House statements at issue were official acts and therefore covered by presidential immunity, and they ask the Court to allow the Justice Department to substitute the United States as defendant under the Westfall Act.
- The Justice Department has signaled it will seek to intervene, which would move the case from a private suit against the president into federal control and would likely end Carroll’s defamation claim if substitution is granted.
- Lower courts have already upheld the $83.3 million award and rejected Trump’s immunity arguments as raised too late, and separately Carroll received roughly $5.62 million earlier this month from escrow after the Supreme Court declined to hear a separate $5 million verdict.
- If the Supreme Court takes the case and rules for Trump or allows Westfall substitution the ruling would sharply narrow civil exposure for presidents, but if the Court declines review the Second Circuit judgments and ongoing fights over payment and collection will remain in place.